This is why your product launches will fail

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Enthusiasm is the feeling that usually prevails prior to product launch. Many small business owners believe that their new products are innovative and groundbreaking, which is why they initiate a launch after all. However, we will try to show you that enthusiasm should be mixed with caution, since product placement in a very competitive market demands a number of skills and careful analysis.

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there were more than 2.17 million actively trading businesses in Australia in June 2016, an annual increase of 2.4%, driven primarily by growth in small businesses. No matter what kind of business you are dealing with, first steps are always the most difficult. This is most obvious in the mobile app domain – Google statistics show that one quarter of all installed apps are not used anymore after the first try!

A quarter of installed apps aren’t used after the first try

Here are the most common mistakes which occur while trying to launch products.

Strategy and planning not determined
Creating an interesting and unique product is a mere first step as you need proper planning and strategy if you want it to be recognised as such. Companies often lack precise and measurable goals, with clear KPIs and results in all stages of the launch. Each small business has its own technicalities, but all of them must bear in mind what is it that they are trying to achieve eventually. A product launch requires a certain amount of financial resources so try to stick to what you got and act accordingly otherwise it could lead to a project collapse.

Consumers unidentified
You simply have to know your target audience. There is not a single product that can fulfill the needs of all consumers, so do your best to make a market research and find out what type of users you can approach with your product. The worst thing that can happen to you is to launch a product but don’t realise what kind of buyer you are aiming at. Always ask yourself: who is going to buy this and why?

Poor social media campaignSocial media is probably the cheapest way for small businesses to promote their products and advertise the launch. However, they require a lot of patience and strategic thinking, as well as money and manpower.

ABS reveals that business use of information technology has increased in the last three years, while the greatest change occurred in the proportion of businesses with a social media presence – up three percentage points to 34%.

Not ready to grow
If your product is good enough, be prepared for a potential business boost. Don’t let the sky-rocketing sales catch you off guard and fall short once you have a chance to make big things happen. Small businesses often face two-sided danger as they compete with their small business counterparts and also with big players and international corporations. In such environment it is likely that companies are unable to keep up with consumer demands, which might jeopardise entire entrepreneurship.

You don’t analyse resultsTo make the product launch meaningful, you have to analyse all results according to the goals set during the planning stage. People usually think of it this way – our product sells a lot or doesn’t sell at all. Yes, it is most likely very easy to notice if your results are good or bad in general but the analysis of KPIs will help you understand your business much better and allow you to determine what you audience needs or wants be improved.

Launching a product is a very complicated process – it takes a lot of planning, significant amount of funds, consumer targeting and many more. It is not easy to plan everything and a lot of troubles can pop up in the process but these are the biggest mistakes that you cannot allow to happen.